King of Shadows
The King of Shadows is part of NWN2's official campaign. :WARNING: MAJOR PLOT DETAILS on the left holding the Sword of Gith]] The King of Shadows is an ancient and powerful being featured in the NWN 2 official campaign. He is not a pre-existing Forgotten Realms character but one created specifically for NWN2. He was created to be the ultimate guardian for the Illefarn Empire, an empire based off the friendship of dwarves and elves. He was a human who sacrificed his very self to become the perfect guardian, a protector with no pride or ambition. He drew his power off the Weave and was thought to be able to protect Illefarn forever. However, during his reign, the Weave disappeared for an instant when Karsus tried to steal divinity from Mystryl, the then goddess of magic. Faced with a choice, either dying and leaving Illefarn unprotected or to turn to a darker alternative, the Guardian turned to the Shadow Weave as a new source of power. But in doing so, he became a creature of darkness and shadow that leeched life from everything around him. When the Illefarn people realized what had happened, they sought to destroy him, seeing that he had become corrupted and was destroying the very thing he was created to protect. When they attacked him, the Guardian (now the "King of Shadows") saw them as enemies, after all, he was the protector of Illefarn and anyone who attacked him was perceived to be an enemy of Illefarn, even if they wore the Illefarn colors. In the end he destroyed them all, but not before being driven into the Plane of Shadow and locked there for centuries. Now he seeks to return and to fulfill the very purpose he was created for...despite the fact the empire he was created to protect no longer exists and its enemies are gone as well. Prelude ''From a dark chapter in Neverwinter's history, a war was ended before it ever truly began. Only a handful of annals exist on the rise and fall of the man they call the King of Shadows. Trembling hands recorded the reign of terror caused by his infernal cohorts -- nefarious denizens of the Lower Planes with a perpetual thirst for pain and blood. ''To combat this threat, Neverwinter hastily assembled an army on a grim mission to defeat the King of Shadows' legions. The battle was fought in the swamp known as the Mere of Dead Men, crushing the village of West Harbor beneath the weight of the two armies. When the battle was all-but-lost, an unknown force decimated both sides and sundered the blood-soaked ground of the village. ''Though the King of Shadows was defeated, not a single soldier survived to tell the tale. But the Harbormen carry the memory, ever-reminded by the dark scar that mars their village green. ''The march of years has passed, and the King of Shadows is rising again...and this time, there may be no one who can stop him... (From PC Gamer magazine December 2005.) Category:Official campaign NPCs